25 Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency Before Hiring: What a Good Answer Sounds Like
Ask about results, team, process, account access, reporting and exit. Good answers name people, metrics and dates. Weak answers promise ROAS and avoid the exit terms.
Sorted Agency The Sorted team8 min read
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Before hiring a marketing agency, ask 25 questions across six areas: results, team, process, account access, reporting and exit. Good answers are specific. They name the people on your account, the metrics they report, and how you leave. Weak answers promise ROAS, stay vague on who does the work, and skip the exit terms.
Most question lists online stop at the question. This one adds what a good answer sounds like, written for Shopify brands doing $20,000 to $500,000 a month. It is part of our guide on how to hire an ecommerce marketing agency.
What are the most important questions to ask an agency?
If you only have 15 minutes, ask these six. One from each group.
Group
The one question to ask
A good answer includes
A weak answer sounds like
Results
What did you change for a brand like mine, and what happened?
What have you done for a brand at my revenue and price point? Good answer: two or three current examples within your band, with the starting point and what changed. A team built for $50M brands works differently than one built for $1M brands.
What was the biggest change you made, and what did it move? Good answer: one concrete change, such as rebuilding the post-purchase flow, and one metric with a timeframe. Vague lists of services are a weak answer.
Can I see a real report from a current client, with the name removed? Good answer: yes, today. A report shows how they think more than a case study does.
What results do you expect in 90 days? Good answer: a range tied to your numbers and what has to be true for it. Any guaranteed ROAS is a red flag; see our ecommerce agency red flags.
Tell me about a client that did not work out. Why? Good answer: a real story with the lesson. Every agency has one.
What should you ask about the team?
Who exactly will work on my account? Good answer: names and roles for the strategist, the builder or media buyer, and the account lead. You meet at least one of them before signing.
How many accounts does each person handle? Good answer: a number. If it sounds high, ask how many hours a week your account gets.
Is any work subcontracted or offshore? Good answer: a direct yes or no, with where and who. Offshore teams can be excellent. Hiding it is the problem.
What happens when my main contact leaves or goes on holiday? Good answer: a named backup who knows the account, and written documentation of your flows, campaigns and tests.
The people you meet in the sales call should be the people doing the work, or you should meet those people before you sign.
What should you ask about process?
What happens in the first 30 days? Good answer: access in week one, an audit and baseline by week two, a dated plan by week three, first changes live by week four.
What do you need from me each week? Good answer: a short list: approvals within 48 hours, product and launch info, one weekly call. If they need nothing, they will build without your input.
How do you decide what to test or build next? Good answer: a ranked backlog by expected revenue and effort, shared with you. For Meta, a creative testing plan. For email, flows before campaigns.
How do you work with my other partners? Good answer: a clear split. For example, the email agency owns Klaviyo and the ad agency owns Meta, with a shared calendar so offers match.
Ask the agency to walk you through one real week on a current account. Real process shows up in the detail.
Who owns the templates, flows and ad creative? Good answer: you, once paid for. Raw design files and video sources included, in writing.
If an agency wants to run ads from an ad account it owns, walk away. You lose pixel history, audiences and reporting the day the contract ends.
What should you ask about reporting?
What does a monthly report include? Good answer: Shopify revenue by channel, contribution margin, new customer CAC, and a log of what shipped. Platform numbers are context, not the headline.
How do you separate the revenue you drove from revenue we would have had anyway? Good answer: holdout tests, flow vs campaign splits, or a baseline from before they started. Our CAC benchmarks help you check their numbers.
How often will we meet, and who attends? Good answer: weekly for the first 90 days, then every 2 weeks, with the person who does the work in the room.
What metrics do you track for email? Good answer: revenue per recipient, flow vs campaign revenue, and list growth. Open rate alone is a weak answer. Compare their targets with our Klaviyo flow benchmarks.
Ask for the report template before you sign. If it is all screenshots from ad platforms, expect the same after you sign.
What should you ask about pricing and exit?
What exactly does the fee include? Good answer: a written scope with numbers: emails per month, creatives per month, tests per month, or hours. See Klaviyo agency pricing and Meta ads agency pricing for typical ranges.
What is the minimum term and the notice period? Good answer: both numbers, plainly stated. Minimums vary by service; top-tier CRO agencies commonly require a 6-month commitment. Shorter terms or a paid trial lower your risk. Our post on agency retainer vs project pricing covers trial months.
What happens on the day we part ways? Good answer: a handover checklist: logins removed, files exported, flows and tests documented, open campaigns listed.
Are there any fees beyond the retainer? Good answer: a full list. Ad spend, Klaviyo, creative tools and testing software are often billed separately. Clutch notes ad spend is billed separately from agency fees.
Score each answer from 0 to 2. Zero for vague or missing. One for partly specific. Two for specific, with names, numbers or dates.
Add the totals across all 25. The maximum is 50. Compare agencies on the same scale, and include any freelancer or in-house option you are weighing.
Then look at two groups on their own. Access and exit answers should score 2 every time. A low score on ownership or exit is a reason to walk away, even if results look strong.
Write the answers down during the call. Send the agency a summary afterward and ask them to correct anything wrong. Their reply shows you how they communicate.
A good agency asks questions back. Expect at least these in the first call:
Your monthly revenue, average order value and contribution margin
How much of revenue comes from email, Meta and other channels today
What you tried before and why it stopped
Your launch and promo calendar for the next 90 days
Who on your side approves work, and how fast
If an agency quotes a price without asking about margin or current channel mix, it is selling a package. Your store needs a plan built on your numbers.
We ask these on every first call at Sorted. Since 2017, our team of 60+ has worked with 100+ D2C brands. If you want to run these 25 questions on us, book a call.
What questions should I ask a marketing agency before hiring?
Ask about six areas: past results for brands your size, who exactly works on your account, what happens in the first 30 days, who owns the ad and email accounts, what the monthly report shows, and how you exit. Good answers include names, numbers and dates. Vague answers and guaranteed ROAS are warning signs.
What is the most important question to ask an ecommerce agency?
"Whose account will my ads and emails run in?" The answer should be yours. Keep the Meta ad account and pixel in your business portfolio, stay the Owner in Klaviyo, and approve a Shopify collaborator account. If the agency owns the accounts, you can lose pixel history, audiences and reporting when the relationship ends.
How do I know if a marketing agency is good?
Check that it works with brands at your revenue and price point today, names the people who will do the work, shows a real anonymized client report, and reports on Shopify revenue and contribution margin. Speak to one current client. Score each answer and compare agencies on the same scale.
What should be in a marketing agency's monthly report?
Shopify revenue by channel, contribution margin, new customer CAC and a log of everything shipped that month. For email, add revenue per recipient and the flow vs campaign split. Platform ROAS and open rates can appear as context but should not be the headline, because each platform claims credit for the same orders.
Should I sign a long contract with a marketing agency?
Only if the terms protect you. Know the minimum term and notice period before you sign. Some specialist firms, such as top-tier CRO agencies, commonly require 6 months. A paid trial month or a fixed first project lowers risk. Make sure you keep every account and receive all files when you leave.
